Winter Wonderland
by poseysharman
Summary: Au. Friendly neighbors surely aren't a thing in Rosewood. At least that's what Spencer Hastings believes until she wakes one morning to find Toby Cavanaugh shoveling out her spot for her. Spencer and Toby. Spoby.


**A/N:** I was talking to my mom earlier and she was telling me a story about how my dad used to shovel out parking spots for their neighbors as a nice gesture, and it really warmed my heart to hear that so naturally it inspired an au spoby version. It's short, and probably rough since it's been forever since I've written, but it's cheesy and fluffy. Enjoy! xo

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**Winter Wonderland**

Spencer's already running late from having slept through her first alarm, cursing herself for allowing Hanna to drag her out the night prior, when she finally glances out her window to discover a surprise snow storm had hit them in Pennsylvania the night before and her car covered in a blanket of freshly fallen white snow, and blocked in by a mound of it from the plow. She lets out a loud and frustrated groan, knowing there's no possible way she wasn't going to be late for work now.

Skipping her morning shower, Spencer dresses quickly, only applying the bare minimum of makeup and tying her long, wavy hair back in a low ponytail. She bundles up in her winter coat and gloves, silently cursing herself for still living in a state that received snow, and begins mentally preparing herself to venture out in the cold to clear her car out, trying to be hopeful that she'll still have time to stop for her morning coffee, but deep down knowing that it was unlikely. Jogging down the stairs to the main entrance of her apartment complex, Spencer stops short in the doorway when she notices someone already shoveling the snow out from behind her car. Her windshield is completely void of snow and ice from having already been scraped clean.

"Excuse me, what are you doing?" Spencer calls out when she steps out of the apartment complex, already immediately wary of the strange man clearing out her car.

At the sound of her voice, the man straightens up, offering a small smile and wave to her. Spencer walks down the front steps to her building, instinctively crossing her arms across her chest, unsure about how she felt about a stranger doing something seemingly nice for her. This is Rosewood, after all; nobody just did anything out of the kindness of their heart.

"I saw that you're car got blocked in from the plow, so I figured I'd help you clear it out," the man spoke as Spencer approaches him. Finally getting a good look at him, Spencer recognizes him as the man who she believed lived in the apartment the floor below her. She had only recently started seeing him around the building in the past month, and when she did, it was only in glimpses, as he was either leaving or entering the apartment complex at strange hours throughout the day and night. "Toby Cavanaugh," he says a moment later, offering his hand out to shake.

Despite his smile, and faded blue eyes that Spencer couldn't help but to be memorized by for a split second, she remained wary of him. "Why?" she asks him, her arms still crossed across her chest, her tone suspicious, though her gaze softened only slightly at his still ever so friendly grin. "Do you not think I'm capable of shoveling out my own car? I've lived in snowy Pennsylvania my whole life, thank you very much." Spencer doesn't mean for her tone to come out as harsh as it probably does, but she's underslept, irritable from her lack of caffeine, and suspicious of her new neighbor's kindness.

Toby throws his arms up as if to claim innocence. "I just saw a fellow neighbor blocked in and thought I'd help, that's all; no hidden motive," he responds, and it's then when Spencer finally glances away from the man to notice that the two spots next to her are also cleared out, one of them that Spencer knows belongs to her elderly next door neighbor, in a similar fashion.

"Did you also clear out those spots?" Spencer asks hesitantly, beginning to feel foolish for immediately thinking the worse out of a nice gesture. Toby nods, and Spencer definitely feels ridiculous. "_Oh._" Spencer utters, her arms finally uncrossing as she can feel her cheeks begin to warm. It's not like she could blame herself for thinking the worst of Toby, though; Spencer had seen enough growing up that those living in Rosewood with actual good intentions were the minorities in her corrupt town.

To her surprise, and relief, Toby laughs. "So does this mean you're not gonna rip my head off for clearing out your car? Because if you are, I could always put the snow back if that's what would make you happy…"

Spencer smiles ever so slightly. "No, that's not necessary, but thank you." She glances down at the watch on her wrist, realizing the time she has to get to work is slowly ticking down. "Shoot," she mumbles to herself, her attention pulling away from Toby as she unlocks her car and gets in. As she's beginning to pull out, she notices Toby has moved on to the next car, this time a truck that she's sure is his, and stops for a moment and rolls down her window. "Hey," she calls to him. "Thanks, for um, you know, being neighborly and all," she continues awkwardly when he turns to her.

Toby nods, "No problem," he responds, a small smile spreading across his lips that's infectious enough that Spencer can't help but to return.

When she returns later that night after a long night of overtime work, she notices two things that both disappointed her: 1.) it had begun snowing yet again for the second night in a row, and 2.) Toby's truck wasn't in it's usual spot. She shrugs away her thoughts a moment later because she's far too tired from working late to care about anything besides settling down on her couch and catching up on her _Game of Thrones_ before calling it an early Friday night. Some interesting adult she was.

* * *

Spencer wakes the next morning to ultimately discover it snowed all night again, and once more, her car was blocked in from the plow. She catches sight of Toby shoveling out the walkway and stairs to the apartment complex. She smiles involuntarily before catching herself a moment later, reminding herself that he probably got too impatient waiting for their landlord to shovel it out and did it himself.

She showers this morning and dresses to head out to meet her friends for their weekly Saturday morning breakfast and coffee, bringing down her car brush to her car, fully sure that after her hostile attitude yesterday that Toby wouldn't offer his kindness a second day in a row, when she's surprised to find Toby starting on shoveling out the snow from behind her car.

"I'm still just trying to be a friendly neighbor," he claims, throwing up his arms once more to claim innocence when he notices her approaching him.

"I didn't say anything this time," Spencer replies, defensively, though she ultimately offers him a small, friendly smile.

"Just preparing in case you did decide you didn't like me again," Toby says, leaning up against his shovel with a grin.

Spencer rolls her eyes. "I didn't not like you," she tells him, beginning to brush the snow off her windshield. "I don't even know you enough to decide whether I do or don't, anyways," she murmurs, focusing on the snow she's clearing because she can definitely feel Toby staring at her.

"Fair enough," he finally responds a moment later before continuing to clear out the snow behind her car. They continue in silence, and it's only a few minutes later before they're done with Spencer's car, and Toby's walking away to begin shoveling out Ms. Wilson, her elderly neighbor's' car.

"Thank you," Spencer calls out to him before getting in her car, only catching a glimpse of the smile he responded to her with.

She returns to her apartment complex 45 minutes later, her stomach full from breakfast and in a genuinely happy mood from being with her old high school friends that even the freezing cold and snow can't bring down. She pulls into her spot and immediately sees Toby still outside, this time beginning to clear out his own car. She glances at the coffee cup sitting in her cupholder, grateful she decided to listen to her instinct last minute.

"_Are you seriously getting another coffee for the ride home, Spence?" Her friend, Emily, had asked her earlier when she was ordering the coffee._

"_It's not for me," She murmured in response. _

Spencer shuts off the ignition to her car and exits it carefully, noting the ice all over the parking lot. Grabbing the coffee from her cup holder, and her snow brush from the backseat, Spencer made her way towards Toby. "Still hard at work I see," Spencer comments as she approaches him.

Toby grins when he catches sight of her. "I figured it was probably time to clear out my car before work," he responds. His head nods towards the coffee that Spencer's arm was now extending out to him. "What's this?"

"For you," Spencer replies. "I figured you'd still probably be doing the whole good neighborly thing when I returned and could probably use something warm. It's black since I didn't know how you took it, but I grabbed some cream cups and sugar for you too," she continues, pulling out a handful of sugar packets and a few small things of cream from her pocket.

Toby takes the coffee from her hand, a genuine smile spreading across his mouth. "Thanks," he murmurs, placing the coffee down on the hood of his truck before grabbing the cream and sugar from Spencer to put in his drink. "How much do I owe you?"

Spence shakes her head. "It's on the house. Consider it half a thank you for shoveling out my car, and half an apology for almost ripping your head off Friday morning."

"Thank you, but you didn't have to, really," Toby responds.

"I know, but I wanted to," Spencer replies softly, smiling, causing Toby's cheeks to redden slightly as he grinned sheepishly. "I also figured you could use some help," she continues, picking up the snow brush she had leaned up against Toby's truck. "I thought I could return the favor and learn how to be a more...neighborly neighbor."

Toby laughs. "Knock yourself out," he tells her as Spencer begins clearing the snow and ice from off his windows. "I never caught your name, by the way," he continues. "And I think it's only fair I know the name of a fellow neighborly neighbor."

Spencer rolls her eyes, but laughs. "Spencer Hastings."

"Well, pleased to meet you, Spencer," he says, looking up to grin at her.

"You too, Toby," Spencer replies, holding his gaze a moment longer before forcing herself to look anywhere but directly into his stunning blue eyes.

"There you go," Spencer speaks up when they finish clearing out Toby's truck ten minutes later. "You're officially all set to get to work. Where do you work anyways that you're going in at noon on a Saturday?"

"Technically, I don't have to be in until four, but I have errands to do. But you're looking at one of Rosewood's newest police officers," Toby replies proudly.

"Wow," Spencer responds, momentarily taken back because she's sure there's no way someone who seems as genuinely nice as Toby is a police officer in Rosewood. "I guess your overly need to help makes sense now."

"Good thing I picked the right profession then."

"Yeah, considering just how much Rosewood needs someone like you on the force," Spencer murmurs before picking up her snow brush and glancing up at Toby with a smile. "I'll see you around, officer Cavanaugh."

"Yeah, see you around Spencer Hastings."

Spencer heads back inside to her apartment, only allowing herself to look back once to catch Toby still watching her as she walked away. She offers him a shy, sheepish smile, and watches as it dawns on Toby that he's still watching her walk away and as he quickly tries to look at anywhere but Spencer before ultimately deciding to get in his car to begin his errands.

She spends the rest of her afternoon reviewing some work she needs done by Monday morning, and cleaning her apartment, keeping herself busy in order to not think about her newly found acquaintance that is officer Cavanaugh. It's later in the evening when Spencer's friends call her up, begging for her to ignore her work for once and enjoy the weekend with them. Spencer's hesitant, until Hanna tells her that her boyfriend, Caleb, has agreed to play designated driver for them, and the thought of letting loose and having a few drinks is too tempting for her to ignore any longer.

Spencer heads out with her friends around eight, and it's not long before she finds herself intoxicated and allowing herself to enjoy the first Saturday night in a long time. Caleb drives her back to her apartment a little after two that morning, and with a sloppy kiss on the cheek from an equally drunk Aria and a promise to a sober Caleb she can make it up to her apartment fine, Spencer slides out of the backseat of the cramped car and heads towards her building's front door.

What Spencer, in her intoxicated state, didn't plan on, however, was the amount of ice still fresh on the ground. She lost her balance almost immediately, despite only wearing flats rather than heels, and fell flat on her butt with a hard thump.

"Are you okay?" she heard a moment later, and Spencer looked up to find Toby carefully jogging towards her from his truck, concern plastered across his face.

Toby bends down beside her, carefully taking a hold of her shoulder and arm and helping her to her feet. "I'm fine," Spencer murmurs to him, trying to brush him off, embarrassed.

"Are you sure? You didn't hit your head or anything, right?" Toby asks, still concerned.

Spencer shakes her head. "No, just fell right on my butt. I forgot that ice and alcohol don't really mix well," she tells him, giggling as her mind's still clouded from the tequila shots she did with her friends earlier.

"Are you drunk?" Toby asks her, amused. Spencer nods beside him, laughing once more. Toby grins. "Come on, let's get you upstairs then."

"First you clear out my car twice, and now you're offering to help me back it back to my apartment safely? Is there such thing as too nice?" Spencer wonders out loud, though she doesn't protest as Toby begins leading her inside.

"Not in my book," Toby replies.

"Yeah, but see, you live in Rosewood now, where nice people _don't exist_. There's definitely a limit on how nice you can be in this town," Spencer tells him as matter-of-factly.

"Maybe I'm trying to change that; show this town that it's okay to be nice to one another," Toby responds, amusing Spencer's ramblings as he helps her upstairs to her apartment on the third floor.

"Yeah, good luck with that," Spencer snorts as they approach her door.

"Well, I got you to open up and be a little nicer to your fellow neighbors, didn't I?" Toby jokes as Spencer fiddles with the key to her front door.

Spencer successfully opens her door before turning back to Toby. She looks at him for a moment, allowing herself to get lost in his eyes once more. "I guess you did," she murmurs to him softly. "You have beautiful eyes," she speaks a moment later, her voice barely above a whisper.

"So do you," he murmurs in response to her, his voice as low as hers.

"I take back what I said earlier," Spencer says softly to him.

"And what's that?" Toby asks her, his gaze not leaving hers.

"I may not know you that well, but I definitely don't not like you, Toby Cavanaugh," she murmurs quietly.

"I'm happy to hear that," Toby replies in a whisper. "Definitely happy." For a moment they stare at each other in silence, and it's then that Spencer can feel something unexplainable, a moment, pass through them and send a jolt of emotion through her.

"I should probably go," Spencer speaks, though she can't bring herself to pull away from Toby's gaze. She pushes her door open with her back, and finally a moment later, Spencer finally tares her eyes away from Toby's. "Goodnight," she says softly to him as she makes her way into her apartment.

"Goodnight, Spencer," he replies in a murmur, watching until Spencer gently closes the door behind her.

* * *

Spencer wakes up the next morning with a killer headache, and huge craving for water and coffee. She stumbles her way to her kitchen, turning her coffee pot on since she knows she's in no shape to drive with her headache, and grabs a water out of her fridge in the time being. As she's waiting for her coffee, Spencer curiously walks over to the window in her living room that overlooks the parking lot. For some reason, she's sure he'll be out there.

It didn't snow the night before (something Spencer's really grateful for), but sure enough, Toby's outside anyways, this time laying out rock salt to help melt the ice on the walkway to their building. Though the night before is a little hazy, Spencer remembers her time with Toby perfectly, and without thinking too much of it, pours two cups of coffee. Remembering vaguely how Toby made his the day prior, Spencer puts some cream and three sugars in one cup, and throwing on her winter boots and jacket and heads outside with the two cups of coffee.

Toby spots her as she's pushing open the front door of the building. "Goodmorning," he says to her cheerily as he watches her wince at the sunlight when she first comes outside.

"Shh, not too loud," she mumbles to him, handing him one of the coffees in her hand. "Here, I'm not sure how good it is since I usually don't make my own coffee, though."

"It's the gesture that counts. Thanks," he replies, taking the coffee from her and taking a careful sip. "How are you feeling?"

"I've definitely felt better," Spencer responds with a laugh. "What are you doing out here, anyways? Isn't this the landlords job?"

"Yeah, but I don't see him doing it, do you?" Toby responds. "Besides," he continues with a shrug. "I don't want to see you accidentally slipping again and getting seriously hurt this time. Or anyone here, especially Ms. Wilson," Toby adds quickly at the end.

The night before comes back into Spencer's thoughts. "Well I'm sure people like Ms. Wilson are really thankful," she responds, smiling.

"Do you want to grab something to eat maybe?" Toby asks her suddenly. "Not that this coffee isn't filling or anything, but I could really go for some late breakfast. If you want to come, you can, I mean, no pressure," he continues, and Spencer notices for the first time the nervousness in his voice.

"I'd love to," she responds to him, smiling.

"Okay," Toby replies. "And good, I mean, you can get to know me and definitely have a reason to not not like me."

Spencer laughs, her hand flying up to cover her forehead. "Oh God, you remember me saying that?"

"Of course I do, Hastings; it was the highlight of my night hearing that you don't not like me," Toby says, grinning.

"Alright then, how about you show me why I should like you then," Spencer says to him with a smile as she follows him to his truck, suddenly grateful that she never left Rosewood because the town may have the cold and the snow, and plenty of corruption and bad memories to last a lifetime, but it also has new chances, new beginnings and Toby Cavanaugh.

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